Netball columnist

Record crowds at last weekend's ANZ Championship games show just how much elite netball has been accepted across the country as a genuine spectator sport. Over 10,000 fans screamed the NSW Swifts to a thrilling three-goal win over the Adelaide Thunderbirds on Sunday, and in the process wrote themselves into the record books as the largest regular-season crowd in the seven years of the competition.

A quick comparison to Sydney’s main football code, rugby league, shows how impressive this crowd was. At the only two NRL games played in Australia on the weekend, 8892 attended the Canberra Raiders' home game on Sunday, and 8655 fans turned up for the Manly-Newcastle game on Monday night.

Impressive indeed for netball that the weekend crowds eclipsed those of a top-tier sport with a huge marketing budget and plenty of media presence.

The numbers keep getting better for the Swifts. Sunday’s blockbuster was played at the massive Allphones Arena. Their remaining regular-season games are played at the smaller Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre, which has a capacity of just under 5000 people. Happily, the Swifts regularly sell out the smaller venue, with only standing-room tickets remaining for Sunday’s must-win game against the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic.

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Seventeen years ago, when I first played for the Swifts in the opening season of the newly formed National League, we played at the Anne Clarke Centre in Lidcombe, in front of 300 people on temporary seating. The ''blockbuster'' games were played at the sports centre and, when the move was made permanently, there were some nerves about the ability to fill it week in, week out. Now that is happening, the next logical move is for Allphones to become their new home venue. Crowds of 10,000 will soon become the norm, rather than the exception.

These crowds are not just a Sydney phenomenon. On Sunday over 8000 fans cheered the Melbourne Vixens against West Coast Fever in their last home game before the finals. This crowd comes hard on the heels of the almost 7000 who packed in the game before to see their beloved Vixens take on the Swifts. Both clubs have membership bases in excess of 2000 apiece, and crowd numbers are increasing by about 14 per cent year on year.

All of this is great news for a sport in which its strength has traditionally been its huge grassroots numbers. Netball boasts almost half a million registered participants, and is one of only a couple of sports which are increasing membership year on year. This grassroots strength is rightly celebrated, with National Netball Day on May 31 being the first formal day set aside to celebrate netball in the community.

Historically, though, the challenge for netball has been to turn these huge numbers at grassroots level into bums on seats and eyes on screen for the premium product. The first part of that challenge is now being met. That club games are starting to eclipse attendance figures for the NRL and nipping at the heels of the lower end of the AFL is something worth getting excited about.

The next part of the challenge is to get eyeballs on TV screens. While ratings for the 2014 season are strong, they must get better if netball is to challenge the supremacy of the football codes. To do that, the sport needs to offer something more. The product is great – now it's time to push the personalities.

It needs to make the public, especially those who aren’t familiar with the sport, fall in love with the women who play. It is the personalities who draw people to football, and the spectacle that keeps them there. Netball must accept this and, in doing so, needs to promote the players and, crucially, embrace controversy. For a sport that for so long has traded on its cleanskin reputation, this is a huge departure, but a necessary one if it is to take the next step.

23 comments so far

Its great to see Netball coming up so fast Its a good game to watch much better than the thuggish RLIts no wonder that both the Rugbys are on a downward trend in crowds and TV ratings as these basically violent so called manly games by their supporters dont appeal to a lot of women in our society and lets face it women are 50% of society.Thats a lot of potential support to lose.

Commenter

Proud Victorian

Location

Sandringham

Date and time

May 22, 2014, 9:45AM

They're fantastic crowds, and should be used to leverage more sponsorship and a better television deal. But I don't think there's any need to knock rugby league crowds. League is one sport that is better on television than live, as its strong television deal attests. Australian football is better live, but the camera work is so good these days, it's merely a case of two different spectator experiences. Would love to see netball get the TV and internet side together.

Commenter

Bob

Date and time

May 22, 2014, 9:53AM

I think it might be a very bad idea to trade in a cleanskin reputation for the cult of celebrity. I see enough "drunk footballer accusing of assaulting X" stories - I don't want to see similar ones about netballers! Although granted, we only hear about women cricketers and hockey players when the Australian men's teams have performed abysmally.

Commenter

MerriD

Date and time

May 22, 2014, 10:06AM

Yet another terrible idea from Ellis. Sure she made here mark as a celebrity image on various TV commercials but it is the very LACK of personality that makes netball so unique and appealing. Everyone should say NO to creating cults of personality in Netball.

Commenter

Lucia

Date and time

May 22, 2014, 12:33PM

dont forget there are about 10 teams in Sydney for rugby league, and one for netball. That dilutes crowds, but good to see netball gaiing in popularity

Commenter

jimbob

Date and time

May 22, 2014, 10:11AM

Good article and I like your enthusiasm, but you drifted in to "lal la" land suggesting crowds were "nipping at the heels of the lower end AFL clubs'. If you're thinking of Greater Western Sydney that's not a fair comparison. They are a startup club trying to break in to foreign territory.

Commenter

mal duxworthy

Date and time

May 22, 2014, 10:13AM

I agree. Netball attracts a completely different psyche than any male contact sport. That's why the idea of creating Personality Cults like they do in the various football codes in a very bad idea indeed. Ellis likes to see a lot of "biff" in the game, as she calls it, but many, many people do NOT. If you want biff, speed, etc then watch women's basketball, it's a perfectly fine game. Netball has its proper place as it is and does not need "stars" and "legends" and "personalities"

Commenter

Luke R

Date and time

May 22, 2014, 12:37PM

Netball is a great sport both to play and watch. Please, if it becomes more popular and mainstream let's not make the mistake of mens' sports and allow money to rule the game.

BTW going down and watching your local rep and A grade senior teams play is a great way to spend a Saturday arvo.

Commenter

M

Date and time

May 22, 2014, 10:46AM

The problem with Ellis' poorly thought out idea is that "personality" will absolutely make dollars rule the game. Her proposal is simply to make Netball like all other sports, sponsorship and personality driven, with the corrupting influence of money everywhere. Let's keep Netball special, that's what is attracting people!!

Commenter

l russell

Date and time

May 22, 2014, 12:40PM

Whoa, hang on. Netball needs more players involved in drunken assaults doesn't it? Seriously, I think netball could have soem of the presentable intelligent personalities of any sport going. Great article.